But for the temporary purposes of either beating back mining development, or screwing a better deal out of miners, farmers are prepared to march with the people who persuaded the government to enact tree-clearing legislation and who campaign against farmers using as much water as they do from the Murray Darling Basin and elsewhere.

The alliance is obvious in the Leximancer Concept Map below which shows what issues voters think are important. Greens, Katter Party, Queensland Party, Independents, Australian Democrats and even DLP are hovering around the theme of "Mining" which includes "environment", "food", "water", "mining", "boom", "system", "gas" and "people". They have been brought together by the gas boom.

These concerns are quite separate from those of both LNP and Labor voters. Labor voters are distressed, seeing a coming collapse in their vote, and are concerned that the LNP will win. They then move from this to concern about what this means for the "future", particularly in "services" such as "health" and "education", and in "infrastructure".

LNP voters are as usual concerned with how the bills are going to be paid as well as a concern that the state be "rid" of Labor. They approach the same issues as ALP voters from this direction.

The next map shows the reasons respondents give for their voting intentions. There is a heavy partisan feature to this with both LNP and Labor voters citing Campbell Newman as a reason for their vote, while LNP voters also cite Anna Bligh (as well as some, but not many, Labor voters).

Once again mining and the environment are cited frequently by Katter voters and Greens, and Bob Katter himself gets a mention.

The next map shows reasons for approval or disapproval of Anna Bligh. Government supporters rely on her performance during last year's floods, and probably had a politically reassuring time reliving some of the horrors of that period over the last week. By contrast Opposition supporters see Bligh as incompetent, with an incompetent team and an incompetent party. Not much common ground there.

For Campbell Newman approval or disapproval hinge on perceptions of his performance as Lord Mayor of Brisbane. Supporters believe he did well and that it gives him valuable experience. Detractors point to problems such as increased debt and a City Cycle program that is performing well below expectations. They are also unsettled by the fact that he is not a member of parliament.

When asked who is their preferred premier it boils down to some very simple concepts, which is evident from how few concepts feature on the map below. The strongest argument for Newman is that it is time for a change (an argument that allows supporters to avoid having to be too fulsome in praise), while the strongest argument for Bligh is that she is the "least" worst option (an argument that almost completely avoids confidence in her). Some of the same themes as above are also obviously present, but the decision seems to be organisational - time to go Anna - rather than personal - Newman is really that much better.

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